Spotlight shines on North Bend restaurant's meatloaf recipe
Meatloaf, anyone?
If that made you think of the singer, you can sit near my CD player.
If you think food, join my spouse.
He's a happy camper these days. The meatloaf recipe from one of his two favorite Eastside diners just made it into print.
Ken's Restaurant meatloaf is included in "The All-American Truck Stop Cookbook." Ken's is a truck stop in North Bend that welcomes minivan families, SUV outdoorsy types and sedate sedan drivers, as well as big-rig operators.
Three generations of the Ken Rogers family, led by current patriarch Hadley Rogers, have been serving meatloaf, eggs and hash browns, and club sandwiches to locals and travelers since 1941.
"The cookbook is fun to look at because it has recipes from all over the country and a few from Canada," said Alyce Mellick of North Bend, who works as a cashier at the restaurant several days a week. "We've got copies of it for sale for $16.32."
By the way, Ken's meatloaf recipe came from Suzie McAneny. She's been queen of Ken's kitchen for 10 years.
In case you food/meatloaf lovers are wondering, my spouse's other top stop is Lil' Jon's in Bellevue's Eastgate area.
Voice from the past: From 1967-1992, Bob Blackburn's voice was the most famous sound in Seattle.
He announced the Seattle Sonics basketball games during the team's glory years, when championships were within reach. They were like the marvelous Mariners of today.
On Saturday, Blackburn, 77, will be inducted into the Oregon Sports Hall of Fame.
"I spent 18 years in the sports-broadcast business in Oregon before I came to Seattle," Blackburn said. "It is just nice to be remembered."
The Bellevue resident has mixed emotions about the party, which will be held in the Tiger Woods Auditorium on the Nike campus in Beaverton.
"I think sports halls of fame should be for athletes, but they (Oregon) have a special category for broadcast," he said.
It will be a triple celebration for Blackburn and his wife, Pat.
Their six adult children and families, who live in Dallas, Los Angeles and Bellevue, planned a reunion to coincide with the party.
And Blackburn recently survived several days of intensive-care treatment at Swedish Medical Center/Providence and blood transfusions after a bout of internal bleeding.
"Like the doctor told my wife, it was serious but not life-threatening," he said.
On the ball: Want to see high-quality ballgames without dropping a lot of dough?
Stop by the 2002 Girls Junior Softball World Series at Everest Park in Kirkland. It opens Saturday and runs for a week.
There will be 13- and 14-year-olds from all over the United States, Canada, the Philippines, the Netherlands and Puerto Rico.
School days: A dozen Bellevue firefighters will be working at Rock Bottom Brewery in Bellevue this morning. No smoke, just a lot of hard work as the firefighters' Community Support Foundation stuffs 100 backpacks with school supplies.
"These will go to kids whose families are struggling," said foundation spokesman Art Cole. "We got their names and ages, plus a list of supplies from YES (Youth Eastside Services)."
Other charity backpack and clothing operations go into full swing this month.
Saturday and Sunday morning, before Mervyn's in Redmond opens, 500 junior-high students will go on a shopping spree with volunteers from Assistance League of the Eastside. Each child gets to pick out new clothes and walks out with a backpack filled with school supplies.
"The new clothes help kids feel good about themselves," said League President Leslie Young. "The self-esteem can quickly translate into improved school attendance and performance." One last grin: Doug Eglington , a member of the Lake Washington School Board, shared this bumper sticker he saw on the way to the Issaquah Park & Ride.
It read: "Next time you feel infallible, try walking on water."
Sherry Grindeland's column runs Thursdays and Saturdays in the Times Eastside edition. She can be reached at 206-515-5633 or sgrindeland@seattletimes.com.